Page 8 - National Poultry Newspaper

Chef Tobie Puttock.
RSPCA Australia commends celebrity chef Tobie Puttock as a good egg for supporting farm animal welfare
CHEF Tobie Puttock, well known for his best- selling cookbooks, work on Jamie’ s Kitchen Aus- tralia and Fifteen along with a judging role on My Kitchen Rules, has joined RSPCA Australia to promote farm animal welfare – what a good egg!
As Australian consum- ers continue to demand more transparency and insight into farming prac- tices and farm animal welfare, support from leaders within the food industry is increasingly important when calling for better conditions for animals farmed for meat, eggs and dairy.
Tobie Puttock has long been an advocate of hu- mane food and will be using his reach and influ-
ence to help the RSPCA raise awareness of animal welfare issues relating to food production.
“For many years I’ve been encouraging people to buy cage-free eggs and free range products when shopping for food,” Tobie said.
“However, it’s equally important for people to make sure they are con- suming humane food when they’re eating out, so I’m excited to work with the RSPCA and help consumers better under- stand the impact their choices can have on the welfare of farm animals.”
Tobie supports RSP- CA’s Choose Wisely campaign, which pro- motes eateries that serve higher-welfare food.
Most recently Tobie
took the cage-free pledge, which asks people to commit to only consum- ing cage-free eggs wheth- er they are eating out or cooking at home, to help free hens from battery cages.
Hope Bertram, Humane Food Manager at RSPCA Australia said, “As long as animals are farmed for food or fibre it’s the RSPCA’s role to make sure we can improve their welfare.”
“However, we need sup- port from consumers to encourage demand for higher-welfare products.
“We’re thrilled to be working with Tobie be- cause of his knowledge and expertise in the food arena, coupled with his thoughtful approach to using humane food.
“Tobie’s voice will go a long way towards spread- ing the word about how consumers can help to improve the lives of farm animals simply by ensur- ing they choose humane food when eating out or cooking.”
The collaboration be- tween Tobie Puttock and the RSPCA in-
cludes Choose Wisely, The Cage-free Pledge campaign and the Ap- proved Farming Scheme, each aimed at educating consumers and industry about the best choices that support farmers, in- dustry and commercial operations to create a better life for farm ani- mals.
Scottish scientist recognised for ground-breaking work in stunning at slaughter
THE Humane Slaugh- ter Association has announced Dr Doro- thy McKeegan from the University of Glasgow has been awarded the 2019 Humane Slaughter Award for her ground- breaking research into the welfare impacts of controlled atmos- phere stunning and her outstanding and sustained contribution to protecting animal welfare at slaughter or killing.
Dr McKeegan has had an exceptional ca- reer leading applied animal welfare re- search with a focus on welfare at slaughter or killing, combining be- havioural approaches with physiological and neurophysiological techniques.
She pioneered the first comprehensive research into the wel- fare impacts of CAS and her findings had a substantial and in- ternational influence on poultry welfare, directly informing the choice of permitted gas mixtures for the killing of poultry in the EU (via the EU regulation 1099/2009 On the Pro- tection of Animals at the Time of Killing).
Most recently, Dr Mc- Keegan was invited to lead an international research team carrying out ground-breaking welfare assessment of Low Atmospheric Pressure Stunning in poultry and was instru- mental in producing an application to the Eu- ropean Commission to allow the use of LAPS in poultry, which was added to the EU Direc- tive 2018/723 (amend- ment to 1099/2009) in May 2018.
This was the first new stunning method to successfully navigate the EFSA guidelines and approval process since its inception in 2010.
Dr McKeegan is the principal investigator of a major new project, co-funded by DEFRA and the HSA, aiming to determine whether L A PS in pigs can pro- vide a humane alterna- tive to stunning with carbon dioxide.
Dr McKeegan is a leading consultant to international animal and food industries and an international scien-
tific authority on wel- fare assessment during killing in poultry.
She is the author of over 50 publications, 20 of which are direct- ly related to welfare at slaughter and killing.
As well as her exten- sive research career, Dr McKeegan has been at the forefront of educat- ing future generations in animal welfare and ethics, both in under and postgraduate study.
Prof Malcolm Mitch- ell, who was one of the people who nominated Dr McKeegan for the award, said: “She is an inspirational scientist, in a demanding area of welfare research, moti- vating and training the next generation of sci- entists to work in this challenging field.”
Dr Robert Hubrecht, chief executive and sci- entific director of HSA, said, “Collectively, Dr McKeegan’s work rep- resents an outstanding and sustained contribu- tion to the field of ani- mal welfare at the time of killing.”
“Her research has had significant real-world impacts, with ongoing influence both practi- cally and in policy de- velopment.”
When asked about her hopes for the future in terms of animal wel- fare improvements, Dr McKeegan said, “My work aims to improve welfare conditions at slaughter.”
“Poultry are especial- ly challenging given the very large numbers of birds involved and their low individual value, but we have a re- sponsibility to protect their welfare.
“I hope we can con- tinue to make progress towards the goal of a good death for all farmed animals.”
The Humane Slaugh- ter Award recognises individuals or organi- sations that have made major scientific ad- vances in the welfare of livestock during slaughter, transport or killing for disease con- trol and is now in its 10th year.
The 2019 award was presented to Dr Mc- Keegan at the HSA’s Conference on October 9 at which Dr McK- eegan presented a pa- per on L A PS for poul- try and pigs.
Page 8 – National Poultry Newspaper, November 2019
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